The Failures of the League of Nations
- USA does not join
- Germany joins 1926 - pulls out in 1933
- Lack of enforcement (only economic sanctions)
- Too closely linked with the Treaty of Versailles
- Nationalism too strong (big guys don’t want little guys to tell them what to do)
Japanese Occupation of Manchuria, 1931
- Japan owns South Manchurian railway
- Military operation in 1931 claiming Manchuria (renamed Manchukuo)
- 1932 – League’s Lytton commission decides Japan to leave
- Japan quits the league - invades northern China, 1933
- League decides this conflict has no effect on Europe – ignores situation
- Two men in Europe take notice
Italian Occupation of Abyssinia (Ethiopia), 1935
- Italy had interest in colony since 1895
- Mussolini wanted to expand his empire (Imperialism)
- 1934 an incident is set up where Italians are killed
- Ethiopia appealed to the league
The League of nations was essentially doomed from the start. They were missing all the strong countries therefor they we not able to act when something in the world happened.